The Giving Season
by lostinhersong
Summary: Haruka comes to terms with the true meaning of Christmas.


It all started with an idea. Just what kind of idea, however, could be disputed for days, or possibly, weeks. See, it wasn't a well thought out kind of idea, it was just a small hint laid into the mind of a certain blonde senshi.

After fighting with Michiru Kaiou for almost a year, Haruka Tenou had an idea; a ridiculous, simple-minded, crazy, ludicrous idea. It was such a crazy idea for one reason alone: What do you buy the girl who has everything for Christmas? Even Haruka was stumped, and began slipping from the confines of her apartment almost daily in pursuit of just an item.

This quest lead her to malls at opposite ends of Tokyo, each of them seemingly filled to the brim with hopeful shoppers who were there for the exact reason as she. Though, she looked around at the ranks of them, noticing one huge difference between them and herself: bags. They were laden down with bags of purchases for loved ones across the board, whereas her arms were empty, just as her list of ideas. She heaved a sigh, and continued on, abandoning the idea of finding the perfect gift at a mall after a week. More or less, she had run out of malls to peruse, thus leading her to the conclusion that the perfect gift was not awaiting her in such a place.

She began her search anew in the various districts of Tokyo. Bundled up against the wintery weather by wearing a Mugen hooded sweatshirt beneath a black leather jacket, with a black scarf and matching black gloves, she endured the blistering cold in search of that perfect gift. Shop after shop she entered, pursing her lips in frustration as she weaved in and out of the various aisles, shaking her head as she left each shop with no evidence of her ever entering them. She glanced to the sky just as snow began to fall, a smile appearing on a set of chapped lips. A squeal echoed throughout the district then, causing the blonde to turn. Five girls, all younger than she, stood in a small cluster a few yards from her, their arms linked with several of them carrying bags. The one who squealed, Haruka managed to muster, was the one in the center with two identical pig tails and large blue eyes.

"It's SNOWING! Guys, it's snowing!" Her glee echoed throughout just as her squeal of delight had done, causing Haruka to chuckle softly.

"Yes, Usagi, it's snowing. Just like it does every year," a girl with long hair the color of raven's wings replied, rolling her eyes playfully at her excited friend. The blonde stepped aside, allowing the five of them to pass her before starting after them, walking a few paces behind them, in complete ear shot of their conversation. She didn't mean to eavesdrop, but it wasn't like they were doing anything to stop such an occurrence from happening.

"Rei, don't act like you're not excited for the snow yourself," the girl to the left of the one named Usagi chirped, flipping her long blonde hair back with a flourish, and a smirk. The one latched onto a tall brunette, turned then to the small one in the center, as if she had just remembered something.

"Usagi, what do you want for Christmas?" She had a small timid voice, much like one would have is she was unsure of herself.

"Just having you guys with me is plenty! Who could want anything but great friends for Christmas?" She started to laugh with the other four, all of them squeezing together in some odd variation of a group hug. Haruka stopped then, allowing them to continue their walk down the district, and watched them as they rounded a corner to vanish from her sight. She didn't start walking straight away, instead standing beneath a small bakery's awning and thinking about the slender blonde's words. _Who would want anything but great friends for Christmas?_ Haruka let out a laugh then. She had grown up in a family where material possessions were the only thing that mattered. Perhaps that was why her father, mother, and herself spoke seldom to none as she go older. They deposited money into her checking account once a month, a very generous sum, and she lived in her own apartment on the opposite end of the country attending a very prestigious school. The runner ran a hand through her short blonde locks, again considering the humor behind the situation. She had been searching not for the "perfect gift" for Michiru, but a gift that would impress her friend and partner. No, impress wasn't the right word, or was it?

It was odd to her, shopping for someone other than herself, having never had to do such a thing. It was then that she realized something else that was quite foreign to her: she had a friend.

Michiru knocked on Haruka's apartment door a few days later, it being Christmas Eve. She held a perfectly wrapped package in her manicured fingers, a tiny golden bow adorning the top of the carefully wrapped package. She waited. No one came to the door. She frowned some in confusion before knocking on the door again. She wore a sleek red dress with black panty hoes and a pair of heels. A Santa hat sat on her wavy aqua hair, bringing her outfit together in an odd way. She had been wearing a long khaki coat, but that had been whisked away by Haruka's door man, left in the entrance hall to wait for her departure. She knocked once again, this time receiving"Just a moment!" from inside of the apartment's depths. Once again, the young woman waited. Finally, the door to apartment 224 cracked open, revealing a rather disheveled senshi of the wind. Haruka was dressed in a deep green dress shirt and a pair of khaki trousers, the shirt only partially tucked, and the top four buttons left undone in her obvious haste to answer the door. Her hair was still wet from the shower, tiny droplets of water clung to her eyelashes as she smiled just at seeing Michiru.

"Michiru! Sorry about-," she gestured to herself, color lightly springing to her cheeks. The senshi of the sea could only chuckle at her partners appearance, leaning up to kiss Haruka lightly on the cheek, which only caused her blush to increase. The door swung open, allowing the shorter of the two to walk inside. One carefully tended-to aqua eyebrow raised then, noting the apartments own appearance. Pieces of wrapping paper littered the floor; crumpled up pieces, tiny balls, and long unused strips. Gift tags, bows, and various odds and ends were flung into the equation to create a picture of very unlike-Haruka disregard. Michiru turned to her blonde partner to inquire, noticing the blonde had turned three shades darker in her embarrassment.

"Had some trouble, did you?" Michiru murmured with a hint of amusement in her large azure eyes, causing Haruka to let out the tiniest of chuckles.

"I've…promise not to tell anyone?"

"You always have my word, Haruka."

"I've never wrapped a gift before." The statement was from the heart, a little glimpse into the tall blonde that Michiru so rarely received. She turned to her friend fully then, tilting her head.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously." Haruka murmured, her blush having not left from Michiru's light greeting on her cheek. Michiru, then, began to giggle. The blonde senshi blinked, looking away in further embarrassment.

"I didn't mean to giggle at you, Haruka, it's just…You've never wrapped a present for your mother or father before? Or a friend at school?" Michiru had stopped her giggling, noticing the look bordering fury on her friends face.

"The maids wrapped the presents for Mother and Father. As for friends…" she ended it there, it being quite obvious. Michiru didn't answer right away, but soon, she enveloped Haruka into a hug, burying her face into the taller girls shoulder.

"Don't feel bad. I learned how to wrap by watching Daddy's secretary wrap my presents from Santa. I never wrapped for friends either." The small confession caused the blonde to wrap her arms around Michiru's shoulders, hugging her close.

"Well, I guess I had to learn considering I had a friend to buy for this year," she murmured against Michiru's hair, causing the violinist to hug her closer.

"Haruka! You spent way too much on me!" Came Michiru's shriek a few hours later after eating the small meal Haruka had burnt. Michiru held up a tiny golden locket, a star carved into the front of it with a tiny diamond in the center of the star. Haruka put down the leather gloves Michiru had bought for her and moved to sit next to Michiru, taking the locket into her hands, opening it to reveal a picture of the two of them. It had been taken at the mall a month beforehand in one of those picture booths. The trip had been Michiru's excuse at normalcy, which Haruka had granted her, craving some for herself as well.

"Mother gave this locket to me when I was young, actually. I'm not regifting either, before you say anything. It had been my grandmothers, and I'd like you to have it," she smiled, undoing the clasp to place it around Michiru's neck, receiving stunned silence from the girl at her side.

"In that case, this is way too important to your family to be giving it to me!" Michiru touched the locket at her throat in awe, obviously loving the gift. Haruka only chuckled softly.

"Will you hush up and just say thank you."

"Thank you, Haruka. It's beautiful."

"Merry Christmas, Michiru."

_A/N: Merry Christmas! Now, let's just assume that they both celebrate Christmas. Good. _

_This is set about 4 months before S. So, they haven't met the inners yet. And obviously, they have been working together for quite sometime, and yes, their relationship is budding, but they are not quite together yet, though the thought is quite obviously in Haruka's head –winks-. _

_I hope everyone enjoyed this little insight to a Christmas with Haruka and Michiru. And I hope you all have a lovely holiday season. _


End file.
